A grave mishap with the Equestria Laboratories scientific research facility's newest artificial intelligence, DISCoRD, forces Princess Celestia to relocate the facility to the moon. Celestia's faithful student Twilight Sparkle is more than happy to go to the new Celestia Laboratories to help put things in order—and then she wakes up from cryogenic sleep at the lunar facility ten years later with no memory of who she is or why she's there.

DISCoRD has now overrun Celestia Laboratories, and the original AI, CELesTIA, needs Twilight's help to restore order. Armed only with her wits, magic, and a Hoofheld Portal Device, Twilight navigates the facility alongside mechanized versions of her forgotten friends to find the Elements of Harmony and stop DISCoRD. As they overcome DISCoRD's obstacle-ridden "test" chambers, they will discover what exactly happened at the facility—and to themselves—over the last ten years.

The first episode was released on July 6, 2012. There are currently seven episodes in total. The series so far can be viewed here.

Big Bad: DISCoRD takes over Equestria, and later Celestia, Laboratories once his AI goes haywire. It's later revealed that the changelings, and thus Queen Chrysalis, are responsible for his rampage—but then there's The Reveal that King Sombra is influencing Chrysalis' actions.

Bloodier and Gorier: Episode 5, thanks to the flashback to the fall of Canterlot. Fluttershy is nearly eviscerated, changelings are smashed and blown up all over the place, Chrysalis rips out Shining Armor's heart and snaps off Twilight's wings with visible bones, Twilight accidentally gores Celestia to death with her horn... it earns its foreboding Content Warning.

Cruel and Unusual Death: Episode 5 is full of this. Fluttershy has her spine ripped out and is left to bleed out, Shining Armor has his heart ripped out, Celestia is brutally impaled, Luna is torn apart by Changelings, etc.

Decoy Protagonist: Rainbow Dash (a test subject) and Dr. Whooves (a lab researcher) are set up as the protagonists in the first episode. Then RD gets curb-stomped off-screen by DISCoRD before the Doctor gets CELesTIA and LUNA to shut him down, and the focus shifts to Twilight for the rest of the series. Though considering the opening, this is hardly surprising. Also, that's not Twilight!

Demonic Possession: Seems to be the case with Queen Chrysalis, who is shown to be possessed by King Sombra in episode 5, altering her appearance and making her immensely more powerful at the expense of constantly hearing his voice motivating (or reprimanding) her actions.

Gone Horribly Wrong: The activation of Equestria Laboratories' newest AI (DISCoRD) results in the incapacitation of two bearers of the Elements of Harmony, and will ultimately lead to "unforeseen consequences". It turns out that this was not an accident, but sabotage.

Kick Them While They Are Down: Queen Chrysalis tore off Twilight's wings while she was grieving over the death of Princess Celestia, who she'd just killed by accident.

Laser-Guided Amnesia: Twilight and her friends only remember bits and pieces of their lives before they awake at Celestia Laboratories ten years after the incident at Equestria Laboratories. In Rainbow Dash's case, her memory is wiped shortly after her resurrection as a cyborg to keep her from going on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge against the doctors who did this to her.

Last of His Kind: Twilight and Trixie appear to be the only ponies left; everyone else died during "The Fall of Canterlot".

The Pinkie Core accidentally bumps into the Big Red Button labeled "Do Not Press" that reactivates DISCoRD after his ten-year-long stasis.

During the changeling invasion in the past, Twilight tried to help Celestia against Chrysalis when, unbeknownst to her, Celestia was about to finish off Chrysalis anyway. Chrysalis sensed her arrival and switched her own and Celestia's appearances, and Twilight unwittingly stabbed Celestia to death.

Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Defied; the doctors at Equestria Laboratories wipe Rainbow Dash's memory after turning her into a cyborg for the express purpose of saving their own hides from a vengeful robot pony.

When the DASH-E units cause snow over Canterlot, Applejack gives Rarity her hat and they both blush.

Twilight and Luna share a couple of oddly drawn-out and tender moments of embrace, once when Luna catches Twilight after Chrysalis throws her out of a castle window, and again later when Luna insists on holding off the changeling army while Twilight and her friends fly away.

Dr. Brown: I just don't think we're ready to launch the system. We still have to run tests on it. Dr. Whooves: I know, but Cranky says we need it running as soon as possible. Besides, what could go wrong?

Snow Means Death: The violent invasion of Canterlot is accompanied by a brutal snowstorm. By the end, everything is covered in snow.

Stealth Pun: In episode 5, when Twilight asks where are the sentries, the next shot is of Flash Sentry.

Thousand-Yard Stare: Twilight sports one towards the end of the flashback in episode 5 after losing her brother, mentor (at her own hooves), and wings.

Time Skip: The first episode is set apart from the rest of the series by ten years; the first scene of each episode after that is a flashback meant to bridge the gap between the first two episodes.

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